CJD from dogs

[Doglover132]

Hi people,
Is it possible to get vCJD (or any of the cjd types) or any other disease from eating dog or pet food? I ask because my 1 year old son ate some earlier (only a finger sized amount). Also I have seen him accidently licking the dogs eye once or twice, can he get anything from this, say if the dog was carry CJD or anything? I know its strange (and a bit disgusting) but just thought I'd ask.
Thank you guys

[ginger899]

by the way...just a quick P.S.
Some meats that go into pet food (such as lungs ("lights"), brain, tongue, liver, kidneys, tripe etc) used to be commonly eaten by people! These meats got phased out more or less around the 1960s and many people would find them unpalatable now

[ginger899]

Well....I know times have changed, and so have manufacturing processes, etc. But when I was about 8 or so I ate dog food and cat food for a bet.(in the little kiddie 'gang' we had going on!) It did me no harm at all. I also ate dog biscuits.
(I have given them all up now! LOL)

Licking the dog's eye....probably will cause no harm at all. I am of the opinion that we shouldn't completely 'wrap our children in cotton wool', and let them come in contact with everyday germs -within reason. But of course there are boundaries with that. And of course some things can be very dangerous (such as hand-to-mouth contact with dog feces etc)
But my guess is your little boy is just fine. That said, if he became unwell in any way, then take him to a doctor.

It might be possible to get a tummy-bug from doing that too often, so maybe try to discourage him from doing it.

[Margot49]

Sorry!  This  damn iPad.  That should say run this by your VET.  Lol

[Margot49]

Sorry, meant to add, would run this by my Bet and she what he/she said.

[Margot49]

Agree with Jerry.  Certainly not unusual for kids to get into dog food.
With what regulations there are in place, I would find it highly unlikely that any company would use a known, sick animal in their food process.  They cold find themselves in a whole lot of trouble.  

[tonyb286]

Hi. That's actually a slightly bizarre but very good question nonetheless. The simple fact is that manufactured dog food does not come under the same strict guidelines as for human food and there is no law prohibiting pet food makers from using the cattle tissues (mostly, the brain and spinal cord) that can be infected with the agent that causes BSE in cattle and can cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans.

However, I personally think the risk is extremely small and even more so given the tiny amount of dog food consumed.

It would certainly be worth contacting your doctor, just for reassurance, but I don't think you have anything to worry about. Obviously, in the future, it would be good to put the dog food out of reach of your son.

Tony